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STATEMENT AND MEMORIAL 



IN RELATION TO 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN TEXAS, 



MEMBERS OF THE LATE CONVENTION. 



OTHER CITIZENS OF THAT STATE, 



ADDRESSED TO THB 



HON. B. F. BUTLER, 

Chairman of the Reconstruction Committee. 



l^'^t 



1 







WASHINGTOK D. C. : 

McQILL A WITIIEROW, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS. 

1869. 



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STATEMENT AND MEMORIAL 



Washington City, D. C, March 16, 1869. 

To the Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, 

Chairman of the Committee on Reconstruction of the 

House of Representatives of the United States. 

Sir: For the information of the committee, of which you 
are the chairman, the undersigned citizens of Texas, now in 
this city, beg leave respectfully to communicate, through you, 
the following statement in relation to the progress of recon- 
struction in our State; the present aspect of political parties; 
what we believe to be the present temper of the people, and 
also our views respecting the course which sound policy dic- 
tates as proper to be piirsued in order to carry forward the 
work of reconstruction to such a consummation as will secure 
the tranquillity and the material prosperity of our fellow- 
citizens, and at the same time vindicate the wisdom, the 
beneficence, and the honor of the national Government. 

The evidence is before the nation and the world, that the 
almost insuperable difficulties which che Congress of the United 
States has encountered in the reconstruction of the States 
lately in rebellion have resulted directly from the policy of 
the late President, foreshadowed in 1865, fully declared in 
1866, and so persistently persevered in to the latest hour of 
his administration. So far as the State of Texas is concerned, 
it is certainly true that a very large majority of those of her 
people who actively participated in the rebellion, when they 
saw the confederate government overthrown by the national 
arms, were disposed to submit unconditionally to the national 
authority. They had fought for independence; they had 
staked everything upon the result of the contest, and when 
they surrendered their swords to the conquorer they were not 
disposed to indulge in any fine-spun theories respecting their 
constitutional rights. The common sense of the people grasped 
the truth of the situation, and preserved them from the trans- 
parent pretences which a recreant President and obsequious 
politicians afterwards encouraged them to adopt. All the 
prominent actors in the rebellion expected punishment at the 



hands of the Government which they had so insultingly defied. 
All slaveholders, except a very few misguided Unionists, ex- 
pected that the emancipation proclamation of Mr. Lincoln 
would be enforced, and that slavery would at once be abol- 
ished. There can be no doubt that if the Government of the 
United Slates had at that time offered to the people of Texas 
restoration to the Union upon the very conditions contained 
in all the subsequent constitutional amendments and laws, 
the offer would have been promptly and gratefully accepted. 
But the policy of Mr. Johnson, first indicated by the lavish 
distribution of special pardons, and by the invitation extended 
to the leaders of the rebellion to hold conventions for the pur- 
pose of framing constitutions of government for the ilisorgan- 
ized States, produced a rapid and disastrous change in the 
temper and conduct of the people. First, the most restless 
and audacious, and soon the more cautious of the leaders of 
the rebellion broke the silence which their fears had impelled 
them for a time to preserve, and began to talk openly about 
their rights under the Constitution and the insupportable 
tyranny of the Gorernment. The fatal tendency of all this 
was so apparent, that the then provisional governor of Texas 
delayed his call for a convention in that State, in the hope 
that Congress would arrest the course of the President, and 
assert its constitutional authority to prescribe the conditions 
of reconstruction. But he found himself powerless to stay 
the progress of events, and the result was, that, in the summer 
of 18G6, the party that had accomplished secession in 1861, 
and had earnestly and actively supported the rebellion, ob- 
tained the entire control of the State government. The issues 
between the President and the 39th Congress having become 
about the same time clearly and sharply defined necessitated 
an appeal to the people, pending which the Legislature of 
Texas rejected the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution 
of the United States, and proceded to enact laws intended to 
reduce the colored citizens of the State to a condition which 
would have been slavery in everything but the name. Sus- 
tained, after a memorable contest, by the verdict of the people, 
the 39th Congress, on the 2d of March, 18GT, passed an act 
for the more efficient government of the rebel States, which 
was followed by the supplementary act passed by the 40th 
Congress on the 23d day of March ensuing. Now a majority 
of the white Unionists of Texas felt that the time had come 
for the organization of a Republican party in the State, though 
many refused and still refuse to enter into a party organiza- 
tion. Public meetings were held, and the ball put in motion. 



Animated by the support received from General Sheridan 
and from the lamented General Charles Griffin, Union leagues 
were organized for the instruction of the colored men; public 
assemblies and addresses became more frequent, and on the 
4th of July, 1867, a convention, composed of less than a score 
of white and of about fifty or sixty colored delegates, from 
about twenty counties, assembled in the city of Houston, and 
made the first imperfect attempt at a Republican organization 
for the State. It was the day of small things, and the con- 
vention (as it was called) was treated with great scorn by the 
conservative press of the State. Nevertheless, such was the 
enthusiasm and courage of the colored men, that the work went 
on ia the face of many discouragements, and the election in 
February, 1868, resulted, as is well known to you, in the call 
of a constitutional convention, in conformity with the provis- 
ions of the supplementary^ act of the 23d of March. 

In the meantime differences of opinion had been developed 
among Republicans, the nature of which the undersigned beg 
leave as briefly as possible to state. The State government 
of Texas had been organized in 1866, in accordance with the 
provisions of the constitution framed by the convention called 
by the provisional governor in that year. It was assumed by 
a few Republicans, that after the passage of the act " for the 
more efficient government of the rebel States," on the 2d of 
March, 1867, no civil government of any kind existed in the 
State of Texas ; that the declaration in the preamble to the 
act of the 2d of March, that "no legal State government now 
exists in the rebel State of Texas," was intended utterly to 
destroy the whole machinery of the civil government of which 
Mr, Throckmorton was the head, and must be so understood; 
and that the declaration in the 6th section of said act, that 
"any civil governments which may exist" in the rebel States 
named in the act "shall be deemed provisional only," had 
reference to governments that might afterwards be framed by 
conveiitioris, and not to the governments existing at the time 
of the passage of the act. We will say here, in passing, that 
the undersigned have never been able to assent to the correct- 
ness of these views. 

About the last of July, 1867, Governor Throckmorton was 
removed by General Sheridan, and Mr. Pease was appointed 
provisional governor. A month later, the comptroller of pub- 
lic accounts, the State treasurer, the attorney general, and 
other officers were removed from office, and Republicans ap- 
pointed in their stead. The question immetliately arose, 
whether any of the acts of the so-called legislatures in Texas, 



passed after the act of secession in 1861, were to be respected 
as laws or not. The question was made upon an act of the 
eleventh legislature, Avhicli was elected in June 186G, under 
the constitution of that year, and which assembled on the 6th 
of August. That legislature had passed, amongst other acts, 
an act making appropriations for the support of the State gov- 
ernment. The now comptroller was not inclined to execute 
this act, and asked the opinion of the a^ttorney general as to 
its validity. The attorney general expressed his opinion that 
all the acts of the so-called legislatures of Texas, passed after 
the act of secession in 1861, were null and voitl ab initio. The 
comptroller thereupon refused to execute the act of 1866. 
Acts had been passed during the rebellion, and by the legisla- 
ture of 1866, remodeling some of the judicial districts of the 
State, and changing the time for hoMing the courts in others. 
Different opinions were entertained as to the validity of these 
acts. One of the district judges, appointed by General Griffin, 
refused to hold his court except at the time prescribed by the 
laws in force at the time of secession, while the others were 
acting in obedience to the more recent statutes. General 
Sheridan had now been removed from the command of the 
fifth military district. General Griffin had fallen at his post 
of duty a victim to epidemic fever. General Reynolds had 
not yet reached the capital of Texas from his command on. the 
Rio Grande. There was for some weeks a dead-lock in the 
exec^utive department of the civil government. 

It has been constantly charged by the leaders of the ah 
initio party in Texas, that Governor Pease decided all these 
questions in such manner as to impose rebel laws upon the 
loyal people of Texas, and a persistent effort has been and is 
still made to create prejudice against him in the minds of the 
ignorant on this subject. The undersigned hope lliat you aiui 
your honorable committee will hear patiently some further 
explanation upon this point. Governor Pease did not act 
upon this subject as res inteyra. He followed the lead of 
General Sheridan and General Griffin, and he did so only after 
the fullest consultation with General Reynolds. The facts 
before him were these: In his general order assuming command 
of the fifth military district. General Sheridan interpreted the 
act for the more efficient government of the rebel States to 
mean precisely what Congress afterwards, in the act of the 
19th of July, 1867, declared it to mean, to wit: That the gov- 
ernment then existing in Texas was to be deemed a provisional 
government. General Sheridan treated Mr. Throckmorton as. 
the Governor of Texas, or as the head of the provisional gov- 



ernment; and he declared in the general order his purpose to 
be to interfere no further than necessity might compel with the 
machinery of government then existing in the States of Louis- 
iana and Texas. Now, the whole machinery of civil govern- 
ment in Texas rested upon the foundation of the constitution 
of 1860. General Sheridan well knew this ; and he knew that 
all the civil officers in Texas obeyed the constitution of 1866, 
and the statutes passed before, during, and since the rebellion, 
as the rule of action in the State. General Sheridan's order 
therefore was a recognition of the constitution of 1866; for 
laws, as well as officers to execute them, are a necessary part 
of the machinery of government. Again, General Griffin had, 
in the most pointed manner, recognized the constitution of 
1866 in the appointment of the judges of the supreme court 
of the State. Under the constitution of 1845, the supreme 
court of Texas was composed of a chief justice and two asso- 
ciate justices. Under the constitution of 1866 the supreme 
court is composed of five judges. General Griffin removed 
from office the five gentleman elected in 1866, and appointed 
five others in their stead. 

Again, both General Sheridan and General Griffin had 
respected, in special orders, changes made in the organiza- 
tion of the judicial districts of the State by the Legislature 
of 1866 ; and General Griffin, in special orders, had command- 
ed that partieular enactments hy the Legislature of that year 
should not have the force of law. These were some of the facts 
before Governor Pease. Immediately upon his appointment 
as provisional governor, he repaired to the city of Galveston, 
and conferred personally with General Griffin, only a few days 
before the death of that gallant and loyal gentleman ; and he 
learned from General Griffin that it was his intention to 
respect the constitution of 1866, and the statutes of Texas as 
a body, so far as they were not deemed in conflict with the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, or injurious in 
their operation to a particular class of citizens. 

It will readily be perceived by you, that the position assumed 
by the attorney general and the comptroller was one of the 
very gravest importance. It involved, first, the validity of 
all acts of legislation and of all decrees of courts during a 
period of nearly seven years; and, secondly, it involved the 
question, whether the civil government was to be conducted in 
the manner with Avhich our people were familiar, or by orders 
emanating from the military headquarters. In this emergency. 
Governor Pease wisely determined to await the arrival of 
General Reynolds at the capital. The subject was referred 



8 

to the general, and it was with his full concurrence (which 
was tantamount to direction) that Governor Pease issued his 
proclamation declaring that the constitution of 1866 and the 
statutes previously enacted, so far as they were not in viola- 
tion of the Constitution and laws of the United States, and so 
far as they had not been annulled or modified by military 
orders, together with the military orders which had been or 
might thereafter be issued, aifecting the civil administration, 
were to be respected as constituting the rule of action for the 
civil government of the State When the convention assem- 
bled, in the month of June of last year, this subject, to the 
exclusion of nearly all other business, occupied the first six 
weeks of the session. The advocates of the ab initio doctrine 
endeavored to incorporate in the constitution a declaration 
that all pretended acts of legislation, of the bodies calling 
themselves legislatures in Texas, passed after the act of 
secession, in 1861, were null and void ah initio. Those of 
the undersigned who were members of. the convention con- 
tended that this was not true in legal contemplation, and 
that the question was not one for the convention, but for 
the courts of the country. The views of the opponents of 
the ah initio theory were expressed in a declaration intro- 
duced in the convention by one of the undersigned, (A. J. 
Hamilton,) which asserted, in substance, that the Constitu- 
tion and laws of the United States, and the treaties made in 
pursuance thereof, are the supreme law of the land, anything 
in the constitutions or laws of any of the States to the con- 
trary notwithstanding; that the act of secession passed by a 
so-called convention of delegates of the people of Texas, in 
the city of Austin, on the 1st day of February, 1861, was in 
violation of the Constitution and paramount authority of the 
United States, and Avas therefore null and void from the be- 
ginning; that all laws and parts of laws passed by any so- 
called legislature in Texas subsequent to the act of secession, 
that were in contravention of the Constitution or laws of the 
United States, or intended to aid the rebellion against the 
Government of the United States, or to bestow benefits upon 
those in rebellion against said Government, at the expense or 
to the injury of those who were loyal to it, were also null and 
void from the beginning : but that acts of legislation not 
obnoxious to these objections, and under which private rights 
had grown up, were to be respected, not because the so-called 
legislatures that assembled in Texas during the rebellion had 
any rightful authority (in a legal sense) to make laws, but 



because the interests of society demanded that tliey should be 
respected. 

In the expectation that the convention would frame a con- 
stitution in the summer, and order an election at some time 
during the autumn of last year, a Republican State Conven- 
tion yvas called, to meet in the city of Austin, on the 12th of 
August last, to perfect the organization of the party in the 
State, and to make nominations for State officers. It having 
become manifest that the convention would take a recess be- 
fore completing the constitution, no nominations were made, 
but a committee was appointed (Judge George W. Paschal, 
chairman,) to report a platform for the Republican party of 
the State. The platform reported by the committee was the 
national platform adopted at Chicago, verbatim et literatim, 
with a few additional sections in reference to the local situa- 
tion and interests of the people of Texas. The ab initio dele- 
gates in the convention made no objection to the platform as 
reported; but because they were not able to amend it by add- 
ing to it their favorite dogma, that all acts of legislation in 
Texas during: the rebellion were null and void ab initio, 
nearly all of them withdrew from the convention, and at- 
tempted to set up a separate Republican organization. This 
was in August, before the convention had taken any action 
upon the subjects of the elective franchise and the division of 
the State ; so it will be seen that this ab initio question (as 
we have got into the habit of calling it in Texas) was the one 
upon which an attempt was made to disrupt the Republican 
party in our State. We do not choose here to charge that 
this issue was made in the hope of destroying the influence 
of certain gentlemen who were supposed to stand in the way 
of aspiring extremists. We state only facts which cannot be 
denied, and we invoke the considerate judgment of all candid 
and intelligent Republicans upon the merits of the issue itself. 

Another question which divides the Republicans of Texas, 
is whether or not the territory of the State ought to be divided. 
This question arose during the summer session of the conven- 
tion, and the efforts of the divisionists were defeated. The 
subject was again taken up when the convention reassembled 
in December, and the division party succeeded in obtaining 
the passage of a general declaration that the territory of the 
State ought to be formed into smaller States. It may not be 
uninteresting to you and your committee to be informed why 
it was that the friends of division in the Texas convention 
contented themselves with this general declaration. It was 
because they did not dare to propose any particular plan of 



10 

division. There could not have been found in the convention 
a majority of delegates in favor of any particular lines. The 
delegates from the northern part of the State who favored 
division desired to have a State formed out of that portion of 
the territory of Texas lying to the north of the 32d parallel 
of north latitude. To this the advocates of division from the 
eastern portion of the State would by no means consent. The 
plan of these latter gentlemen was to divide north and south 
by the Trinity and Colorado rivers, and to this the northern 
gentlemen would by no means consent. In this strait, the few 
who favored any division that would increase the demand for 
Governors and United States Senators pushed for a general 
declaration that division was a necessity; and others fell into 
line because their feelings had become somewhat excited by a 
protracted contest, because they wished to preserve what they 
considereil consistency, and in the hope that the result would 
be to their satisfaction. The idea of the per se division men 
was that a declaration that division was a necessity would 
operate to induce Congress to move in the matter, and propose 
some plan of division to the people of Texas, or perhaps divide 
the State, nolens volens, as a measure of reconstruction. In 
the event that Congress could not be induced to do more than 
propose a plan of division to the people of Texas, it was hoped 
that such action on the part of Congress would in its turn 
operate upon them to induce them to consent to the plan pro- 
posed. Now, we wish to state for your information, that the 
people of Texas have not at any time expressed a wish for a 
division of the State. The subject was not one that entered 
into tiie election of delegates to the constitutional convention. 
It will not be pretended by any one that it was a question in 
the election in any single county in the State, or that it was 
even discussed in five counties in the whole State. We do not 
mean to deny that some very patriotic and worthy gentlemen 
of the Republican party are in favor of a division of the State, 
in the sincere and disinterested belief that it would promote 
the general welfare of the people; but these are not the gen- 
tlemei» who put division above reconstruction ; these are not 
the gentlemen who would reject the constitution that has been 
framed by the convention, in the hope that division may result 
from two or three more years of disorder and distress. 

We wish to call your attention distinctly to the fact, that it 
is not proposed by any of the advocates of division to form 
only two States out of the territory of Texas. It is proposed 
to form at least three: one above the 32d parallel of latitude 
north, and two below that parallel; or ono east of the Trinity 



11 

river, another west of the Colorado river, and one between 
the two rivers. Any division that has been suggested would 
involve the necessity of providing the necessary public build- 
ings for two capitals; and as the present capital is situated 
on the Colorado river, if that stream should become the 
boundary line between two States, the public convenience 
would require that some other point should be selected as a 
seat of government, thus increasing the necessary expenditure 
for public buildings. It is to be borne in mind that our people 
are poor. In many portions of the State the cotton crop has 
almost entirely failed during three of the last four years. The 
wheat crop has been a very light one for the last two years. In 
addition to the tax for the ordinary expenses of the civil gov- 
ernment, the people have been taxed to pay the expense of the 
convention, which held two sessions : the first of three and 
the second of more than two months' duration. Our people 
are also in need of school-houses and teachers, and they can 
only bo provided by taxation. For these and many other 
purely economical reasons, the present seems to us a most in- 
auspicious time to impose upon us the burthen of supporting 
two additional State governments. And we do not hesitate 
to say, that the people of Texas do not desire the division of 
the State, and that it is urged more in the supposed interests 
of individuals than for the promotion of the general welfare. 
We have in Texas about one hundred and ten thousand reg- 
istered voters. The problem of reconstruction is not yet 
solved ; and we think that prudence dictates that we had better 
reconstruct one State before we undertake to set up three; 
and that it will be time enough for so small a population to 
send six Senators to Congress when all disturbing questions 
shall have been definitely settled, and when there will remain 
no doubt that our people are again united by a common senti- 
ment of devotion to the Union. 

There was also a difference of opinion in the convention of 
Texas on the subject of disfranchisement. It was the opinion 
of some that a provision should be incorporated in the con- 
stitution disfranchising a large number of our people, while 
others were inclined not to fix any disfranchisement in the 
State constitution, but to leave the whole subject to Congress, 
under the provisions of the 14ch article of amendment of the 
Constitution of the United States. It will not be improper 
here to remark, that the diflBculty of deciding what ought to 
be done on this subject was one of the reasons which influ- 
enced the convention to take a recess from the 31st of August 
until the 1st of December, that the result of the presidential 



12 

election might be known, and its effect upon the public mind 
of the people of Texas duly considered. The discussion of 
the subject after the convention reassembled resulted in the 
adoption of the article of the constitution which will be found 
hereto appended, which article received the support of those 
of the undersifjned who were members of the convention. 

We are of opinion that it is not the part either of wisdom 
or justice to perpetuate disabilities in our State constitution. 
Rebellion was a crime against the national authority, and the 
measure of its punishment should be determined by the national 
judgment. Those who have been temporarily clothed with 
power in the lately rebellious States, wisely and for necessary 
ends, are too much heated by the friction of the contest through 
which they are passitig, and are under too strong a temptation 
to punish their opponents, and to preserve power to themselves, 
to be the best judges of what a wise and parental policy re- 
quires to be done on such a subject. Taken, as it were, by 
surprise and frightfully betrayed, the national government 
has nevertheless everywhere re-established its constitutional 
authority. In the future it will be upon its guard. We have 
confidence in its power and in its disposition to protect the 
loyal people of Texas. The process of reconstruction will be 
to the last moment within the control of Congress. A ma- 
jority — as we think, a very large majority — of our people 
profess a desire to reconstruct our State government under a 
constitution which confers equal rights upon all men, Avithout 
respect to race, color, or previous condition. We are called 
upon to decide whether or not we will so far trust their pro- 
fessions as to make the experiment of reorganizing the State 
government at the present time. We feel that considerations 
that rise far above all individual views and aspirations demand 
that the experiment should be made. The constitution pro- 
vides for an election in July next, at which time the present 
registere<l voters, and such voters as will be registered between 
this and that time, will vote for and against the constitution, 
and also for State, district, and county oflScers and members 
of Congress. We earnestly advise that Congress shall permit 
the election to proceed. We believe that a large majority of 
our people are in earnest in desiring reconstruction on the 
terms that have been proposed by Congress. We have had a 
long and greatly embittered contest in Texas, and our ailversa- 
ries showed a bold front untilNovember last; but when the news 
came along the wires that the great and modest soldier who, 
in the late terrible struggle, first won victory to the standards 
of the Republic, and made her the companion of his march 



13 

from the walls of Donaldson to the plains of Appomattox, had 
been called to the head of the Government which his genius 
and valor had so signally contributed to preserve, the conserva- 
tives of Texas took up his words, and said " let us have peace." 

There are those who will call upon Congress to interpose 
and prohibit an election in July, and the organization of a 
State government under the constitution framed by the con- 
vention ; and they will tell you that those of us who favor an 
election "have sold out to the rebels." This latter jihrase 
has been in their mouths during the last eighteen months. 
Such accusations are the common resort of those who cherish 
designs, to the support of which reason and argument cannot 
be brought. Our consciences are void of offence. We feel 
that we have done, as nearly as circumstances would allow, 
our whole duty as Republicans. Some of us took our places, 
during the war. as soldiers under the flag of the Union. Some 
of us, as you know, in 1866, left our homes to add our feeble 
voices to the protest which you and thousands of other Re- 
publicans were making against the alarming pretensions and 
usurpations of the President. In doing so, we staked every- 
thing upon the result ; we burned our sliips behind us. Since 
then, through good report and evil report — in the face of ob- 
loquy, insult, and disdain — we have supported the reconstruc- 
tion measures of Congress. We can well say to those 
Republicans who now malign us, as Cicero said to Antony, 
"we have despised the^vords of Catiline; we do not fear 
yours." We wish to sit down by our hearthstones once more 
in peace. We do not wish to prolong a contest, which, if 
prolonged, can produce only the bitter fruit of settled and 
implacable hate. We believe the time has come when duty 
calls upon us to trust those with whom we have heretofore 
been at variance; and we appeal to the Government, which 
has thus far sustained us, to give its countenance and support 
to an honest effort to restore civil government to our people, 
under a constitution which does not give to any man a single 
right or privilege that is not equally secured to all. That it 
may be seen that our constitution is such an one, we respect- 
fully invite your attention to the portions of it hereto ap- 
pended. 

We have the honor to be, with great respect, your very 
obedient servants, 

A. J. Hamilton, of Travis county. 

M. L. Armstrosq, of Lamar county. 

Julius ;Schutze, of Bastrop county. 

C. Caldwell, of Bowie county. 

C. J. Stockbridge, of Washington counly. 



14 

Bei7J. 0. Watrous, of Washington county. 

C. T. D. Harn, of Grimes county. 

W. H. Fleming, of Red River county. 

A. P. McOoRMicK, of Brazoria county. 

DouALD Campbkll, Delegate elect from Marion county. 

A. BuFFixGTON, of Gfimes county, except as to division 

of Texas. 
W. E. HoRNE, of Fort Bend county. 

Delegates of Reconstruction Convention, Texas. 

J. L. Hatnes, of Travis county, Chairman Republican 

Executive Committee. 
R. N. Lane, of Travis county. 
Max Mobius, of Galvestou county. 
•Tames H. Bell, of Williamson county. 
A. V. Wiley, of Galveston. 
L. E. Edwards, of Wasliington county. 
C. K. Hall, of Galveston county. 
Geo. W. Pasch-VL, of Travis county. 
Levi Joxes, of Galveston county. 
Henry Himber, of Brazos county. 
Jas. T. Keleuer, of Cameron county. 

Being politically in sympathy with the signers of the above memorial, I join 
the same, fully agreeing with them as to divi.<ion, the views on ab initio, the 
safety of an early eleciiun, and the adoption of the State constitution framed by 
the late Convention of Texas. 

Alex'r Rossy, 
Special Delegate from Bexar a,nd other Counties of Western Texas. 



Extracts from the Constitution framed hy the Conventioyi of 

Texas. 

BILL OF RIGHTS. 

That the heresies of nullification and secession, which 
brought tlie country to grief, may be eliminated from future 
political discussion ; that public order may be restored, private 
property and human life protected; and the great principles 
of liberty and equality secured to us and our posterity, \Se 
declare that: 

Section I. The Constitution of the United States, and the 
laws and treaties made, and to be made, in pursuance thereof, 
are acknowledged to be the supreme law; that this Constitu- 
tion is framed in harmony with, and in subordination thereto; 
and that the fundamental principles embodied herein can only 
be changed, subject to the national authority. 

Section II. AH freemen, when they form a social compact, 
hare equal rights; and no man, or set of men, is entitled to 
exclusive separate public emoluments or privileges. 



15 

Section XXI. The equality of all persons before the law is 
herein recognized, and shall ever remain inviolate; nor shall 
any citizen ever be deprived of any right, privilege, or immu- 
nity, nor be exempted from any burdens or duty, on account 
of race, color, or previous condition. 

RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE. 

Section I. Every male citizen of the United States, of the 
age of twenty-one years and upwards, not laboring under the 
disabilities named in this Constitution, without distinction of 
race, color, or former condition, who shall be a resident of 
this State at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, or 
who shall thereafter reside in this State one year, and in the 
county in which he offers to vote sixty days next preceding 
any election, shall be entitled to vote for all officers that are 
now, or hereafter may be, elected by the people, and upon all 
questions submitted to the electors at any election: Provided, 
That no person shall be allowed to vote, or hold office, who is 
now, or hereafter may be, disqualified therefor by the Consti- 
tution of the United States, until such disqualification shall 
be removed by the Congress of the United States: Provided, 
further, That no person, while kept in any asylum, or confined 
in prison, or who has been convicted of a felony, or who is of 
unsound mind, shall be allowed to vote or hold office. 

PUBLIC schools. 

Section I. It shall be the duty of the legislature of this 
State to make suitable provisions for the support and main- 
tenance of a system of public free schools, for the gratuitous 
instruction of all the inhabitants of this State, between the 
ages of six and eighteen years. 

Section IV. The legislature shall establish a uniform sys- 
tem of public free schools throughout the State. 

Section VI. As a basis for the establishment and endow- 
ment of said public free schools, all the funds, lands, and other 
property heretofore set apart and appropriated, or that may 
hereafter be set apart and appropriated, for the support and 
maintenance of public schools, shall constitute the public 
school fund. And all sums of money that may come to this 
State hereafter from the sale of any portion of the public 
domain of the State of Texas shall also constitute a part of 
the public school fund. And the legislature shall appropriate 
all the proceeds resulting from sales of public lands of this 
State to such public school fund. And the legislature shall 
set apart, for the benefit of public schools, one-fourth of 



16 

the annual revenue derivable from general taxation; and 
shall also cause to be levied and collected an annual poll-tax 
of one dollar on all male persons in this State, between the 
ages of twenty-one and sixty years, for the benefit of pub- 
lic schools. And said fund and the income derived therefrom, 
and the taxes herein provided for school purposes, shall be 
a perpetual fund, to be applied, as needed, exclusively for the 
education of all the scholastic inhabitants of this State; and 
no law shall ever be made appropriating such fund for any 
other use or purpose whatever. 

Section VII. The Legislature shall, if necessary, in addi- 
tion to the income derived from the public school fund, and 
from the taxes for school purposes provided for in the fore- 
going section, provide for tlie raising of such amount by tax- 
ation, in the several school districts in the State, as will be 
necessary to provide the necessary school-houses in each dis- 
trict, and insure the education of all the scholastic inhabitants 
of the several districts. 

Section VIII. The public lands heretofore given to coun- 
ties shall be under the control of the Legislature, and may be 
sold under such regulations as the Legislature may prescribe; 
and in such case the proceeds of the same shall be added to 
the public school fund. 

Section IX. The Legislature shall, at its first session, (and 
from time to time thereafter, as may be found necessary,) pro- 
vide all needful rules and regulations for the purpose of car- 
rying into effect the provisions of this article. It is made the 
imperative duty of the Legislature to see to it, that all the 
children in the State, within the scholastic age, are, without 
delay, provided with ample means of education. The Legis- 
lature shall annually appropriate for school purposes, and to 
be equally distributed among all the pcholastic population of 
the State, the interest accruing on the school fund, and the 
income derived from taxation for school purposes; and shall, 
from time to time, as may be necessary, invest the principal 
of the school fund in the bonds of the United States Govern- 
ment, and in no other security. 

PUBLIC LANDS. 

Section VIII. To every head of a family, who has not a 
homestead, there shall be donated one hundred and sixty acres 
of land, out of the public domain, upon the condition that he 
will select, locate. and occupy the same for three years, and pay 
the office fees on the same. To all single men, twenty-one 



17 

years of age, there shall be donated eighty acres of land, out 
of the public domain, upon the same terms and conditions as 
are imposed upon the head of a family. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Section XXXIII. The ordinance of the convention passed 
on the first day of February, A. D. 1861, commonly known 
as the ordinance of secession, was in contravention of the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, and, therefore, 
null and void from the beginning; and all laws, and parts of 
laws, founded upon said ordinance, were also null and void 
from the date of their passage. The legislatures which sat 
in the State of Texas, from the 18th day of March, A. D. 1861, 
until the 6th day of August, A. D. 1866, had no constitutional 
authority to make laws binding upon the people of the State 
of Texas: Provided, That this section shall not be construed 
to inhibit the authorities of this State from respecting and 
enforcing such rules and regulations as were prescribed by 
the said legislatures, which were not in violation of the Con- 
stitution and laws of the United States, or in aid of the re- 
bellion against the United States, or prejudicial to the citizens 
of this State who were loyal to the United States, and which 
have been actually in force or observed in Texas during the 
above period of time; nor to affect, prejudicially, private 
rights which may have grown up under such rules and regu- 
lations; nor to invalidate official acts, not in aid of the rebel- 
lion against the United States, during said period of time. 
The Legislature which assembled in the city of Austin on the 
6th day August, A. D. 1866, was provisional only, and its 
acta are to be respected only so far as they were not in viola- 
tion of the Constitution and laws of the United States; or 
were not intended to reward those who participated in the 
late rebellion; or to discriminate between citizens on account 
of race or color; or to operate prejudicially to any class of 
citizens. 

Section XXXIV. All debts created by the so-called State 
of Texas, from and after the 28th day of January, A. D. 1861, 
and prior to the 5th day of August, 1865, were, and are, null 
and void; and the Legislature is prohibited from making any 
provision for the acknowledgment or payment of such debts. 
All unpaid balances, whether of salary, per diem, or monthly 
allowance, due to employes of the State, who were in the ser- 
vice thereof on the said 28th day of January, 1861, civil or 
military, and who gave their aid, countenance, or support to 
the rebellion then inaugurated against the Government of the 
9 



18 

United States, or turned their arms againstthesaid Government, 
thereby forfeited the sums severally due to them. All the ten 
per cent, warrants issued for military services, and exchanged 
during the rebellion, at the treasury, for non-interest warrants, 
are hereby declared to have been fully paid and discharged: 
Provided, That any loyal person, or his or her heirs or legal 
representative, may, by proper legal proceedings, to be com- 
menced within two years after the acceptance of this Consti- 
tution by the Congress of the United States, show proof in 
avoidance of any contract made, or revise or annul any decree 
or judgment rendered, since the said 28th day of January, 
1861, when, through fraud practiced, or threats or violence 
used, towards such persons, no adequate consideration for the 
contract has been received; or when, through absence from 
the State of such person, or through political prejudice against 
such person, the decision complained of was not fair or im- 
partial. 

Section XLV. All the qualified voters of each county shall 
also be qualified jurors of such county. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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